Transformations in Argentine immigration and healthcare policy have collided to create a dynamic landscape of public health utilization in Buenos Aires. This study presents empirically grounded analysis of healthcare utilization in the wake of these policy changes by examining the spatial distribution of 841 patients receiving obstetric services at Hospital Rivadavia in 2009. Analysis carried out at both the individual level and aggregated by partido reveals patterns in both the relative utilization of public healthcare services by migrants compared to native Argentines as well as the spatial distribution of patients, and in particular, migrant patients. The results of this study suggest that utilization of public obstetric services at Hospital Rivadavia by migrants is significantly higher than that of native Argentines and finds the distribution of migrant patients to be spatially clustered. These results have important implications for future immigration policy and healthcare provision at municipal, national, and international scales.

Known as America’s “Arsenal of Democracy,” “Most Dangerous City,” and more recently, “Laboratory for Saving the American City,” Detroit, Michigan has functioned as a model city and symbol in American popular culture since the early 20th century. This research explores the significance of Detroit’s role as a representative city through a content analysis of national news publications and other channels of media in the last century. Relying on theories of the narrative construction of social events and actors in public discourse, this case demonstrates the evolving signification of Detroit in American culture. The emergent narrative of Detroit as a model for reimagining the American city in the 21st century relies on previous labeling of Detroit as a symbol of American ascendency and decline. The story of Detroit as a laboratory for reforming America’s cities demonstrates a reclamation of Detroit as a positive American symbol and a reinvigoration of the discourse of civil society through the democratic production of knowledge about the city. Detroit offers American society a new framework through which to think of shrinkage, community, and identity rooted in place.

Despite unbelievable economic growth rates averaging between 8-10% in 2009 and bright economic prospects, China and India have become two of the largest contributors to world poverty. However, China has been able to alleviate more poverty than India. I believe that there are lessons to be learnt from China’s success. Thus, I will compare both nations and examine the impact of provincial politics (decentralization) on poverty alleviation to determine why China has been able to alleviate more poverty than India. Since China and India are populous, large countries, there is a strong presence of state-level political institutions, which guide policy implementation. I will, thus, examine the cases of Sichuan and Anhui in China and Kerala andBihar in India. The contrast between the success of Sichuan and Kerala and failures of Anhui and Bihar will provide insight on the impact of decentralization and effectiveness of policy implementation towards poverty alleviation.

Since 1995 there have been no forward-looking and realistic program of action to promote the goals of the 1995 Middle East Resolution. Remarkably, regional powers are yet to contemplate on concrete steps toward implementing the resolution due to complex security dynamics and daunting geopolitics that have stymied previous efforts for decades. A combination of regional challenges and opportunities to implement the 1995 Middle East Resolution provide reasons to revisit the concept of the zone and suggest next steps that could lead to progress. The paper concludes that peace and security are both sides of the same coin and suggests practical mechanisms; inter alia, the establishment of parallel processes between efforts to establish a WMDFZ and peaceful relations in the Middle East.

A MiddLab Project

What is the state of urban industrial land use in Russia today? Why did the 2001 Land Code reforms fail, and what is more, why does successful reform have yet to be instated? What are the economic effects of ineffective land reform in Russia, and are there legal or other effects, as well? Most importantly, which amendments need to be considered in order to create effective Russian land policy?

Chinese household registration policy classifies each citizen as either an urban or rural dweller. As China’s coastal urban economies began to rapidly develop in the late 19070s and 1980s, many rural dwellers migrated to cities in search of higher wages. These migrant laborers were not able to receive the services provided to urban dwellers by local city governments. Preliminary results show that employers are more likely to offer these types of increased compensation when they are located in more mature job markets where the supply of jobs exceeds demand.

Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawai’i is well known for its effusive, fountain-style eruptions. However, its eruptive history is punctuated byexplosive eruptions that would today be a serious hazard to local humanpopulations. Explosive eruptions induced by contact between waterand magma are known as phreatomagmatic, and such an eruption in1790 was responsible for the deaths of roughly 80 Hawaiians.

A MiddLab Project

For this project I returned to Old Providence for almost a month over J-term with a Garmin GPS to ground-truth information I had acquired from CORALINA (the government-sponsored Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina) and to create my own more accurate dataset. I recorded data for all of the roads, dirt roads, sidewalks and trails on the island, as well as important waypoints, and compiled a map of this information, populated areas, the biosphere reserve, and English nomenclature—which I fact-checked with native islanders.

The business model of the food industry, as it stands today, is unsustainable. To counter these negative trends, organizations like Slow Food International have begun to champion the importance of “quality” for health, the environment, and the art of gastronomy. But what does quality mean and what will be its impact on the global food industry? An analysis of wines produced in France and labeled with the government-sponsored quality certification system, Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée, reveals that an emphasis on quality and geography, rather than brand, makes the food market more monopolistically competitive, more inclusive yet hierarchical.

A MiddLab Project

Tim Parsons, the College’s Horticulturalist developed an interactive map of all the trees on campus. In Tim’s Urban Forest class, his students took the tree population and ran it through modeling software called iTree to look at carbon sequestration, pollution abatement, etc. Students in other classes have used the map for tree identification. For example, a student recently contacted Tim because she was looking for Cherry trees to evaluate for a plant community ecology class.